Dear Emotionally Disturbed,

Since Dr. Craig has chosen to discontinue his reading of this virtual pub (comments, "CMH", 4/2/02), we can use this space to discuss his work...

I just read this brillo article he wrote called Superheroes, monsters, and babies: roles of strength, destruction and vulnerability for emotionally disturbed boys. It was published in a recent issue of The Arts in Psychotherapy, and concerns the use of role-playing in a therapy group for emotionally disturbed boys -- more specifically, the recurrence of the these archetypes (superhero, monster, baby) in the drama-therapy and their significance.

I won't go into it because I don't think I'm equipped to do it justice here, but here's one of many passages I really like:

Most people are able to take on a variety of roles in their daily lives, choosing aspects of the self to meet the given circumstances of each new situation. Severe emotional disturbance, however, is marked by inflexibility, a "diminished capacity to take on and play out roles" (Landy, R.J., 1995, The dramatic world view: reflections on the roles taken and played by young children).

It's encouraging to find that I'm not "severely emotionally disturbed", since I take on and play out roles like they're going out of style...!

The article is fascinating material that I plan to mooch from copiously in my own creative work. If you've let your subscription to The Arts in Psychotherapy lapse, now's the time to renew!